A documentary by an award-winning Pakistani filmmaker shows the lives of traditional musicians, musical instrument makers and the challenges they face by Omair Ahmad Indus Blues is an aural and visual delight, and it is no wonder it is winning, and being nominated for, a slew of awards. A 75 minute documentary on the folk musicians of Pakistan by the young filmmaker …

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the heritage and folklore of the people of Punial in Gilgit-Baltistan by Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro   Punial valley of Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan is known for its oral history, folklore, visual culture, looming Hindu Kush mountains, verdant and sprawling villages, nullahs (side valleys) full of pastures, gushing Gilgit River coursing through Punial valley and, of course, the …

Turtuk was part of Pakistan until 1971, when the Indian army occupied the village during a border war along the Line of Control and never gave it back. By Dave Stamboulis A tumultuous history Turtuk is incredibly hard to get to. The small hamlet sits at the far end of Ladakh’s Nubra Valley in far northern India, hemmed in by …

Dinmukhamed Kunaev was a leader of Soviet Kazakhstan. As the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan he was in office from 7 December 1964, to 16 December 1986. The house opened as a museum on January 12, 2012, Kunaev’s birthday, and displays almost the entire heritage of its owner, creating an authentic atmosphere of the recent, but at the same …

Over 20,000 tourists and spectators enjoyed the three-day Shandur festival that ended on Tuesday amid dance, music, and paragliding show   By Karim Ullah CHITRAL, July 9: Chitral retained its title and won trophy sixth consecutive time beating Gilgit-Baltistan by 6-5 goals after the sensational contest on the final match on Tuesday. The three-day mega annual cultural-cum-sports event ended amid …

Last year over 17,000 tourists flocked to Kalash valley which is comprised of three valleys with 4,000 population. Herald Report In remote Kalash valley of Chitral, the Kalash minority community has preserved their unique culture, traditions, and lifestyle in the face of growing threats from external intrusion and coercion. Kalasha, a primitive pagan tribe, have a unique religion, culture, rituals …

Herald Special In remote Tajik mountains, Pamiris keep unique culture alive. The Pamir mountains of northern Tajikistan are sometimes known as “Baam-e-Jahan” (the roof of the world) or High Asia. Isolated by the rugged terrain, the Pamiri people who live there have preserved some of the Zoroastrian traditions that preceded the advent of Islam. They claim that they are descendants …

Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir holds his Fort and offers a view of daily life in his winter refuge Even though I am based in Islamabad, during the winter I always spend at least a week to ten days in Chitral every other month, so as to see that my affairs run smoothly. This includes both paperwork as well as meetings …

From the Romans’ wild parties to today’s modern romance, love has been celebrated in mid-February. Learn about Valentine’s Day past and present. Valentine’s Day is the day of love. More than any other day of the year, romantic couples shower their better half with gifts and tokens of appreciation. Much about Valentine’s Day is well known. The handwritten cards, chocolate …

Screen Actors Guild awards are generally considered one of the most reliable bellwethers of the Academy Awards Agencies ‘Black Panther’ has won the top film award in at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, putting it in strong contention for an Oscars win this February. In a nomination pool that largely eschewed heavyweight Oscar contenders, …

Ikram Junaidi ISLAMABAD: As per a directive given by the federal government, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended the deadline for registration of mobile phones till Jan 15 after which counterfeit and smuggled devices will be blocked. Earlier, it was announced that the non-compliant devices would not be registered after Dec 31, 2018 and in future only PTA-approved International …

Runyu Liang This week’s video features Himalayan rap set in New York City. The rap refers to the new generation of the land of snow and to classic items of Tibetan cuisine, specifically Tsampa, made from barley flour and mixed with Tibetan butter tea. Named after Tsampa, the rap is produced by Zurich-based Tibetan rapper Karma Emchi, also known as …

Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, has called ticketed New Year’s Eve events around the city’s harbour an “outrageous” money-making exercise by the state government. Of the 51 official harbourside events on the City of Sydney’s website, 19 are ticketed, including at prices as high as $335 – not including alcohol – to watch the fireworks from the Royal Botanic Gardens. …

  Abhaya Srivastava   Thimphu: When I was boarding a plane to head to Bhutan to write about the world’s only carbon negative country, phalluses and nightlife were the last things on my mind. Having grown up in India, I had always pictured Bhutan as a mystic land of ascetics, dotted with prayer flags and Buddhist monasteries. I thought it …

By Sultan Abbas After the incidents of Punjab University and Peshawar University recently the vigilantism has reared its ugly head in Karakoram International University Gilgit. The debate over women’s participation in cultural activities has taken the social media by storm after performance of dance by some KIU girl students in a TV programme. It indicates the division in society over …